


Kintsugi

by xiushine



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Getting Back Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:15:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23409661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xiushine/pseuds/xiushine
Summary: Ten years ago, high school sweethearts Kris and Junmyeon were forced apart by Junmyeon’s disapproving father.Ten years later, they meet again.Everything has changed, but their feelings remain.
Relationships: Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Wu Yi Fan | Kris
Comments: 3
Kudos: 60





	Kintsugi

Junmyeon has been to dozens of galas in his lifetime and he's learnt to get used to them. The current gala he’s attending is in the mansion of one of his father's business partners, hosted in a sprawling ballroom. There must be hundreds of people here, the men are all in similar black tuxes and the women in glittering gowns. They sip on champagne and their polite laughter and chit-chat fills the air. Junmyeon circles the ballroom, he knows his duty here is to mingle with the other guests, exchange pleasantries and "form closer business ties". He grabs a flute of champagne from a passing waiter with a sigh. He's going to need some alcohol in him to survive the night. 

He's made one circle around the ballroom and spoken to several middle aged men when a familiar face in the crowd stops him in his tracks.

Junmyeon feels his heart lurch when he catches sight of Kris. A thousand thoughts racing around his head –  _ what is he doing here, is that really him, oh god he looks incredible, fuck I miss him so much _ . All his thoughts are drowned out by the ache that blooms in his chest at the sight of Kris' smile. 

It’s the same smile he remembers from ten years ago. It's the smile Kris uses when he meets people he wants to charm. Junmyeon had seen that smile when he had first met Kris at a mutual friend's party, a dazzling smile delivered along with a cheesy pick-up line. He had seen it when he brought Kris to meet his best friends for the first time. He saw it often even when they go on dates and Kris was being polite to the staff. Junmyeon remembers always admiring how handsome he was, but that it was nothing compared to the soft sweet smiles he was privy to when it was just the two of them. The memory almost wrenches a dry sob from his throat. 

His legs carry him forward even before he makes a conscious thought to do so until he's a few steps in front of the love of his life. When Kris finally notices him there, the smile drops from his face. 

Kris dazedly excuses himself from the group, pushing past a confused man to get to Junmyeon. They stand face to face in silent shock, taking each other in as the world around them fades into a blur. 

Before he can stop himself, Junmyeon's eyes shine with tears. Kris grabs his hand and pulls him along before the tears can fall. 

Junmyeon finds himself dragged out into the garden until Kris finds a gazebo. 

Kris turns to him, pain in his eyes as he lifts his hand to Junmyeon's face. He hesitates just before they touch, unsure if he's allowed. He drops it to his side, fist clenching.

"What are you doing here?" Junmyeon whispers, voice hoarse. He can’t quite meet Kris’ eyes anymore, so he fixates on one of his suit buttons.

“I was invited.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” Kris clears his throat, “the host is a close partner of my company.”

“Your… company?”

“I mean, I don’t own the company,” Kris flushes, “I’m just the regional manager.”

Junmyeon chuckles softly, “ _ Just _ the regional manager?”

When he finally looks up at Kris, his eyes are shining with fondness. Even after all this time, after achieving success, Kris is never one to brag. Then Junmyeon’s expression twists bitterly.

“I bet my father would approve of you now.” Junmyeon mutters, sinking down onto a marble bench.

There’s a sadness in Kris’ eyes, and he looks like he wants to say something, but he hesitates and shakes his head. He takes a seat beside Junmyeon, and his sigh weighs heavily in the silence.

“You deserved better.” Junmyeon’s voice shakes and he struggles to swallow, “I should have fought harder for you. For us.”

“There was nothing you could do,” Kris says softly, like speaking any louder would shatter the careful tension around them. “not when your father got like that.”

Junmyeon shakes his head, eyes squeezing shut against his tears. Before Junmyeon can argue, Kris speaks up again. “Leaving you hurt so much, myeon,” Kris shudders an exhale, “but nothing was more painful than seeing you in that hospital bed.”

Junmyeon says nothing, but Kris can see the tremble in his hands. “You were unconscious for two days,” Kris continues, his own hands clenching in his lap at the memory of Junmyeon’s frail body hooked up to various machines in the hospital bed. “I couldn’t let him hurt you like that again, not because of me.”

A heavy silence falls around them again. Neither of them quite sure what to say next, but somehow the silence seems to speak for itself. Junmyeon stares down at his hands in his lap, wringing his hands as he waits for Kris to say something, anything.

"So, um," Kris clears his throat, "are you seeing anyone now?"

"No." Junmyeon shakes his head, eyes downcast, "there hasn't been anyone since you."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Junmyeon takes a deep breath, ever-present lump in his throat as his heart races beneath his ribs, "You?" 

"I- " Kris' hesitation finally makes Junmyeon look up, eyes wide, "there was a woman a few years ago, but it didn't work out." 

"Oh." Junmyeon hadn't realised he had been holding his breath. 

"Yeah," Kris smiles wistfully as he rubs at his neck, "I ended things when I realised that I kept comparing her to you."

“ _ Oh _ .”

They sit there for what might have been ages, but Junmyeon barely feels the time. He hasn’t seen Kris in years, and yet now that they’re face to face once again, Junmyeon is sure that his feelings haven’t changed at all. And Kris, beautiful perfect Kris with that soft loving gaze, is looking at him the way Junmyeon feels inside, and he  _ wants _ so badly it hurts. 

So Junmyeon reaches up, fingers curling around the base of his nape as he gently pulls Kris down to meet him. Their lips brush, light and fleeting. 

He feels the tremble of Kris’ hands as he grips the lapels of Junmyeon’s suit, and Junmyeon pulls him closer for another kiss, and another and another. For the first time tonight since he laid eyes on Kris, his mind is blank except for the singular overwhelming knowledge of Kris in his grasp once again. 

He licks into Kris’s mouth and tastes the champagne that he's been drinking. He feels like he could get drunk off this feeling. Every kiss that they share feels like a spark inside Junmyeon’s chest, a cold longing that has finally been reignited by the familiar flame of being this close to Kris. They kiss until Junmyeon feels like he’s about to explode, and he pulls away with a shuddering breath.

“Please.” Kris whispers, barely audible in the space between them. His eyes are squeezed shut as he presses his forehead to Junmyeon, like he’s afraid that Junmyeon might disappear if he opened them. Junmyeon’s heart aches with understanding at the unfinished plea.

He feels his eyes burn and he drops his head down to Kris' shoulder to hide his face. The tears drop as he feels the warmth of Kris’ hands on his back pulling him closer, yet it still doesn't feel like they're close enough. His heart somehow feeling hollow and full to bursting at the same time. 

They stay locked in the embrace as the minutes crawl by, until Junmyeon feels calm enough to look up at Kris again.

"Do you wanna get out of here?" Kris whispers. 

When Junmyeon nods without hesitation, Kris smiles soft and fond, pulling him in for another kiss before taking his hand and leading him around the mansion to the garage.

When Junmyeon gets into Kris' car, he doesn't ask where they're going, it doesn't matter, really. Junmyeon would follow Kris to the ends of the world if he asked. He's not letting go of him again. 

**Author's Note:**

> this has been in sitting in my drafts for several months now and i kind of got stuck but decided to post it anyway, so let me know in the comments if you want more of this/what you'd like to see happen between these two losers :)


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